This answer was posted to a question about unbalanced parentheses in a regular expression. The answerer advocates the use of a raw string (a syntax for Python string literals that treat backslashes as literal backslashes rather than escape characters. Raw strings are commonly used in regex patterns) and notes: "That should hopefully help fix your problem."

The pattern in question has no backslashes, so not only will raw strings not solve an unbalanced parentheses exception, but will actually have no effect whatsoever on the expression. When I mentioned to the answerer that his advice is not wrong, but also not an answer to the question asked, his response in the comments was:

It is an answer, just apparently not the complete right answer. It
directly addresses the problem at hand and offers part of a solution
to his problem. Per the FAQ: "Any answer that gets the asker going in
the right direction is helpful, but do try to mention any limitations,
assumptions or simplifications in your answer." It's ok for answers to
be wrong. That's how you contribute to the knowledge of the internet

I disagree. Certainly an incorrect answer is one thing, but this "answer" is more akin to a recommendation to use spaces instead of tabs to solve a syntax issue UNRELATED to spaces and tabs. The answerer even left the original error (a missing close paren) intact in his code block.

Is this appropriate to flag as Not An Answer, or just downvote and forget?

2 Answers
2

I agree with your assertion that this is an irrelevant answer, but it's not appropriate for the NAA flag. See this answer/discussion. Thanks to Daedalus posting this link in the comments.

Here's a summary of the linked Meta Stack Exchange answer:

When the moderators review the NAA flags, they do not have access to the original question, so they are not in a position to decide whether or not it is relevant to the question, just whether or not it could possibly be an answer to some question. If this doesn't sit well with you, you can use the Other flag for moderator attention with a detailed description of why it's not relevant.

Simply downvoting it and leaving a comment so the answerer can improve is generally the best practice, though.

Thank you, I agree that it would be helpful as a comment but is, currently, NAA
–
Adam SmithJul 18 '14 at 20:25

5

@AdamSmith The answer may be wrong, but it doesn't qualify as NAA, since it -looks- like an answer; your flag will just get declined, because mods do not have the question context to look at. They can only see the answer, and as it stands, it looks like an answer. Just downvote and forget. Helpful reading
–
DaedalusJul 18 '14 at 20:33

Indeed - while I think it's silly that you can't flag as NAA, for instance, a hypothetical answer to a question about converting c++ code to assembly that recommends using jquery and some regexes, it is nonetheless true that indeed you can't, because it would look like an answer. Which maybe it would be, to perhaps some other unrelated question. (Though I'd like to think that in that egregious an example, you could still custom mod flag it. I've been told that for less ridiculous versions, like they answered it correctly for the wrong language, you're just supposed to downvote.)
–
neminemJul 18 '14 at 22:08

I disagree. This answer is of low relevance but not none. As the meta-OQA mentioned, this information or 'advice' was accurate even if it did not directly resolve the question.

I would stick to the OTHER tag in this situation. I regard the NAA as a button that means the answer-er misinterpreted the question. So that is offers nothing valuable and needs to be removed. If it is only a half-baked solution then it still brings the post-OQA slightly closer to his answer or provides further background to the depth of his question.

And even then sometimes having a bad answer stimulates the post-OQA to add additional details or re-phrase for clarity which can be beneficial to all those attempting to answer.
–
just.BlaiseJul 18 '14 at 23:39

In that case, where do you draw the line? Must it be programming related at all to be "relevant enough"? Anywhay, areyou aware that all "other"-flags must be resolved by our overworked moderators?
–
DeduplicatorJul 18 '14 at 23:43

If it is programming related at all, case 1. If not, case spam. If case 1 and pertains to the question then its a viable reply even if the content is wrong. The poster tried and should be down voted for bad information. If it is a misinterpretation then NAA, and all other cases should be OTHER and explained why a moment of learning can't take place with their contribution.
–
just.BlaiseJul 18 '14 at 23:45